7 Managed Lanes Discussion
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MEMORANDUM TO: THE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION FROM: LISA STREISFELD, DIVISION OF TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS DATE: OCTOBER 17, 2018 SUBJECT: COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION MANAGED LANES GUIDELINES DOCUMENT Purpose Managed lanes are comprised of a set of operational strategies to improve traffic flow on highways in response to changing conditions. These strategies reduce congestion, improve safety, and improve reliability. Policy Directive number 1603.0, concerning “Managed Lanes,” was approved in December 2012 by the Colorado Transportation Commission (See Appendix of Attachment B). As part of Section VII., Implementation Plan, “CDOT staff shall develop guidance to support this Policy Directive.” This memorandum provides an update to the Transportation Commission on the preparation of the Colorado Department of Transportation Managed Lanes Guidelines document (Attachment B). Action No formal action required. Background The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) defines managed lanes “as a set of lanes where operational strategies are proactively implemented and managed in response to changing conditions1.” Managed lanes strategies are grouped in the following categories: 1) Active Traffic Management, 2) Transit Management for Express Bus Lanes, 3) Special Use Lanes 4) Express Lanes, 5) High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes, 6) High Occupancy Toll Lanes, 7) Reversible Lanes (also known as Counter-flow Lanes), 8) Shoulder Lanes, and 9) Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Technology. These strategies regulate demand in lanes, separate traffic streams to reduce turbulence, and efficiently utilized available and unused capacity. With limited financial resources to construct new capacity, managed lane strategies can improve travel time reliability, travel mode split, and foster public-private partnerships to invest in infrastructure. To promote managed lanes strategies, Policy Directive number 1603.0, concerning “Managed Lanes,” was approved in December 2012 by the Transportation Commission (See Appendix in Attachment B). It states: “The use of managed lanes shall be strongly considered during planning and development of capacity improvements on state highway facilities in Colorado. When applicable, the decision to not implement managed lanes shall be formally documented subject to Department guidance.” The purpose of the PD 1603.0 is “to ensure that the use 1 https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/managelanes_primer/index.htm Page 1 of 3 2829 West Howard Place 5th Floor, Denver, CO 80204 of managed lanes is strongly considered during the planning and development of capacity improvements on state highway facilities within Colorado.” As required in Section VII Implementation Plan of the PD 1603.0, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) staff shall develop guidance to support the directive. The Division of Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) lead the effort to develop Guidelines for Managed Lanes. TSMO is tasked to improve safety and reliability on highway corridors in Colorado. In order to prepare the draft Guidelines, TSMO staff formed two committees, a project Leadership Team and a Technical Working Team. Members included representatives from the High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE), the Division of Transportation Development, the Environmental Programs Branch, the Division of Transit and Rail, TSMO, the Office of Policy and Governmental Relations, the Division of Communications and Advanced Mobility, CDOT Region 1, and CDOT Region 2. Technical assistance was provided by VHB, a consultant with extensive experience in managed lanes strategies. During document scoping and preparation, feedback from all members of the two Teams was solicited and incorporated into the Guidelines. Staff then presented the draft Guidelines to the following groups for review and feedback: HPTE Board of Directors, the NEPA Practitioners Group, the Statewide Planners, the Statewide/TSMO Traffic Engineers, the Statewide Program Engineers 3 and the Regional Transportation Directors. The goal is to have a final version of the Guidelines completed by the end of 2018. The “Colorado Department of Transportation Managed Lanes Guidelines (Guidelines)” provide a framework for determining when managed lanes should be considered during corridor project planning for capacity improvements. Specifically, the Guidelines: • define the purpose of managed lanes, • define capacity improvements, • identify strategies to evaluate managed lanes for consideration in capacity projects, • recognize the overall technical requirements for assessment of managed lanes strategies (define goals, evaluation criteria, performance metrics and compliance factors), and • explain a process to document a decision when to not implement managed lanes. This framework is necessary to provide statewide consistency for decision-making for implementing managed lane strategies in highway capacity projects. Additionally, the framework provides corridor-specific flexibility to have evaluation criteria matching distinct corridor needs. For example, on one corridor mode split for transit, high occupancy vehicles, and single occupancy vehicles may be a goal; whereas for another highway, the ability to improve trip time reliability and offer real time congestion pricing may be another goal. By following the framework outlined in the Guidelines, CDOT will have a robust process to lead future efforts to deploy managed lanes. It should also be noted that the HPTE is leading a separate effort to prepare an “HPTE Express Lanes Master Plan.” This effort will take about a year and will create a list of corridors eligible to be future express lanes. The Guidelines are meant to be a complementary document to this process. Next Steps Staff requests feedback on the Guidelines for Managed Lanes from the Transportation Commission at the Commission Workshop in October. The Guidelines will be reviewed by the Statewide Transportation Advisory Committee (STAC) on October 26th. Final discussion and recommendation will be requested from the Transportation Commission in the November 15th meeting. Following the recommendation from the Transportation Commission, a training will be developed for staff to learn how to implement the Guidelines. Page 2 of 3 2829 West Howard Place 5th Floor, Denver, CO 80204 Attachments Attachment A: Powerpoint Presentation: Update on Managed Lanes Guidelines Attachment B: Draft Copy of Managed Lanes Guidelines (version Oct. 10, 2018) Page 3 of 3 2829 West Howard Place 5th Floor, Denver, CO 80204 Update on the Managed Lanes Guidelines For the Colorado Transportation Commission October 17, 2018 Lisa Streisfeld Mobility Operations Our Challenge Continued Growth 1991 2015 2040 3.3 million 5.4 million 7.8 million 27.7 billion 50.5 billion 72.3 billion vehicles miles traveled vehicle miles traveled vehicle miles traveled All dollar figures adjusted for inflation 2 What are Managed Lanes? Highway facilities or a set of lanes where operational strategies are proactively implemented and managed in response to changing conditions* • Regulate demand • Separate traffic streams to reduce turbulence • Utilize available and unused capacity *https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/public ations/managelanes_primer/inde x.htm What are Managed Lanes Strategies? The strategies to optimize flow of traffic and improve mobility can use price, vehicle eligibility and access control. • Lane Management: Active Traffic Management Lanes • Lane Control Signal • Value Pricing (a.k.a. congestion pricing) • Variable Pricing (a.k.a. time of day pricing) • Dynamic Pricing • Variable Speed Limits • Highway Ramp Metering • Managed Arterials • Queue Warning • Junction Control • Incident and Emergency Management • Dynamic Re-Routing • Traveler Information • Variable Lane Width • Transit Management: Express Bus Lanes • Special Use Lanes (alternative fueled, connected, platooning, or commercial motor vehicles) • Express Lanes • HOV- High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes • HOT-High Occupancy Toll Lanes • Reversible lanes (a.k.a. Counter flow lanes) • Shoulder Lanes “The use of managed lanes shall be strongly considered during planning and development of capacity improvements on state highway facilities in Colorado. When applicable, the decision to not implement Managed Lanes shall be formally documented subject to Department guidance.” Purpose of Managed Lanes Guidance • As part of Section VII, Implementation Plan of the Policy Directive 1603.0 (December 28, 2012): “CDOT staff shall develop guidance to support this Policy Directive.” • Create a documented process and a tool box to decide whether or not to evaluate managed lanes as an option Stakeholders Leadership Team Working Group • Amy Ford, Div. Adv. Mobility • Michael Timlin, DTR • Ryan Rice, TSMO • Alazar Tesfaye, R1 • Debra Perkins-Smith, DTD • David Singer, EPB • Herman Stockinger, OPGR • John Hall, R1/R2 • David Spector, HPTE • Michael King, DTD • Charles Meyer, TSMO • Patrick Chavez, TSMO • Lisa Streisfeld, TSMO • Marie Nakagawa, OPGR • David Krutsinger, DTR • David Swenka,TSMO • San Lee, TSMO • Mark Andrew, R2 • Dave Mulholland (VHB) • Nick Farber, HPTE • Piper Frode, HPTE • Aaron Greco, OPGR • Leela Rajasekar, R1 • Angie Drumm, R1 • Sharon Terranova, DTR High Performance Transportation Enterprise Developing and Express Lanes Master Plan to Identify Candidate Corridors Project Manager is Nick Farber, [email protected], 303-757-9448 Their long term function: Enhance Lane Efficiency and Utilization • Expand use of capacity in under utilized